Hamlet’s Existential Crisis
Hamlet’s Existential Crisis
In the Renaissance, finding oneself seemed to be a major theme. Most of the plays, in the renaissance age, focused on one thing, what to do when one experiences an existential crisis. Shakespeare’s Hamlet explores existential crisis through Young Hamlet’s inability to act. Just like Hamlet, I suffer an existential crisis; Whether or not I will go to college, and yet I am delaying until the very end. Hamlet’s inability to act comes from his existential crisis because of his paralysis through over analysis.
Over analyzing can lead to paralysis or inability to act. Hamlet designs a play to decide whether or not King Claudius is the murderer. He designed the play, caught the king, and while Claudius was praying, about to kill the king. However, Hamlet over analyses the current situation and have effectively paralyzed himself. Just before he was about to kill Claudius, Hamlet says to himself “To be, or not to be, that is the question: Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them,” (III:i:63-76). He stands behind Claudius completely frozen, unsure of what to do. When Hamlet says “To be, or not to be, that is the question” it means that he has two paths to take, One to take action, or to not take action. And by overanalyzing about which path to take, Hamlet does not take a path at all. Also, he realizes that “Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles”, that either path he takes will have some kind of severe consequence. He also realizes that he cannot escape the responsibilities after either action by saying “and by opposing end them”. Both paths he takes will lead to some kind of responsibility, and he is forced to deal with the consequences sooner or later. I also had a To be or not to be moment as well. I own a old dog and quite recently, she
In the Renaissance, finding oneself seemed to be a major theme. Most of the plays, in the renaissance age, focused on one thing, what to do when one experiences an existential crisis. Shakespeare’s Hamlet explores existential crisis through Young Hamlet’s inability to act. Just like Hamlet, I suffer an existential crisis; Whether or not I will go to college, and yet I am delaying until the very end. Hamlet’s inability to act comes from his existential crisis because of his paralysis through over analysis.
Over analyzing can lead to paralysis or inability to act. Hamlet designs a play to decide whether or not King Claudius is the murderer. He designed the play, caught the king, and while Claudius was praying, about to kill the king. However, Hamlet over analyses the current situation and have effectively paralyzed himself. Just before he was about to kill Claudius, Hamlet says to himself “To be, or not to be, that is the question: Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them,” (III:i:63-76). He stands behind Claudius completely frozen, unsure of what to do. When Hamlet says “To be, or not to be, that is the question” it means that he has two paths to take, One to take action, or to not take action. And by overanalyzing about which path to take, Hamlet does not take a path at all. Also, he realizes that “Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles”, that either path he takes will have some kind of severe consequence. He also realizes that he cannot escape the responsibilities after either action by saying “and by opposing end them”. Both paths he takes will lead to some kind of responsibility, and he is forced to deal with the consequences sooner or later. I also had a To be or not to be moment as well. I own a old dog and quite recently, she
Cited: Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. New York: Barron 's, 1986. Print.